Friday, May 29, 2015

A very careless fellow attempted to write an article on MAE WEST for NewsMax and did such a lousy job that his errors must be corrected — — lest folks might start believing this nonsense (and copying it). There is a mistake in every paragraph. Jeeez.• • "Mae West on Stage: How Her Star Power Went Beyond the Big Screen" [Part 1] • •• • Byline: Mark S. Baker • • • • Mark S. Baker wrote: By the time she made her film debut in 1932's "Night After Night" starring George Raft and Constance Cummings, Mae West was already a 25-year acting veteran, first appearing on the vaudeville stage at age 14.• • First paragraph error: Mae began performing in amateur vaudeville as a child (that is, well before her 14th birthday).• • Vaudeville • • • • Mark S. Baker wrote: West traveled the vaudeville circuit for many years, appearing in such productions as "A La Broadway," "Vera Violetta," "A Winsome Widow," and "Sometime," shows that included musicals, farces, and burlesque. West landing her first starring role in 1926 in a play that she wrote herself entitled simply "Sex."• • Second paragraph error: "Vera Violetta," "A Winsome Widow," and "Sometime" were full-fledged Broadway productions — — not vaudeville skits.• • Mark S. Baker wrote: The Broadway show was popular, but was also highly sexually charged, resulting in the show being raided and shut down by city officials. West was ultimately found guilty of violating New York City's morals in 1927 and received a 10-day jail sentence.• • Third paragraph error: City officials shut down "Sex" (after 10 1/2 months) to punish Mae for trying to bring "The Drag" to Broadway. While she did receive a fine and a 10-day sentence, it was shortened by two days for good behavior.• • Mark S. Baker wrote: The show ultimately had 375 performances between April 1926 and March 1927 before being shut down. West later revived "Sex" and turned it into a movie, 1978's "Sextette," which starred her alongside Timothy Dalton, Dom Deluise, Ringo Starr, and Tony Curtis.• • Fourth paragraph error: "Sex" is a drama centered on the character of Margy LaMont, a tough Montreal prostitute who decides not to marry her naive Connecticut beau. "Sex" has no relation whatsoever to "Sextette," a comedy about a much-married Hollywood actress Marlo Manners, who has just wed a British lord and is now a newlywed named Lady Barrington. Jeez. • • Carelessness? Stunning ineptitude? Flat-out stupidity? Tell us what you think.• • This has been Part 1. Part 2 (with more errors and corrections) continues on Monday.• • Source: error-riddled article written by Mark S. Baker for Newsmax.com; posted on Thursday, 14 May 2015. • • On Tuesday, 29 May 1917 • •• • "Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It" was Mae West's letter to the world. Released in hardcover more than fifty years ago by the Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey imprint Prentice Hall, this meaty memoir was reprinted as a paperback by Avon Books [December 1959].• • Hollywood publicist Frank Liberman helped promote the bio in 1959. Mr. Liberman, who had Parkinson's disease, died of pneumonia in September 2009 at Providence Tarzana Medical Center. He was 92.• • A native New Yorker like Mae, Frank Liberman was born in The Big Apple on Tuesday, 29 May 1917 and was raised in White Plains. We are thinking of him today.• • On Wednesday, 29 May 1935 in Variety• •• • Frank Wallace timed his wedding revelations to coincide with the release of his former spouse's latest motion picture. Bad publicity had already paved this road, thanks to Joseph Breen's tantrums over the screenplay for "Goin' to Town" — — and Mae West watchers probably cared less about Wallace's wailing than the Hollywood hatchet man's cuts. Could Breen have ruined the movie? Thanks to Mae's large and loyal fan base, "Goin' to Town" did big box office, reported Variety on Wednesday, 29 May 1935.• • Overheard in Hollywood • •• • Mae West and Jim Timony are apparently as devoted as when Mae first tackled Hollywood. • • In Her Own Words • •• • Mae West said: "You only live once but, if you do it right, once is enough."• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • A Hollywood movie magazine reviewed the latest motion picture comedy starring Mae West, "Goin' to Town."• • Several shades below Mae West's previous best, but not lacking in laughs created by the typical Westian wise-cracks with rough edges. Mae appears as a dance-hall girl who inherits the fortune of a rich miner and then proceeds to crash society, which leads to melodrama when her social enemies try to "frame" her with Ivan Lebedeff. Paul Cavanaugh is the wealthy and titled Englishman Mae captivates.• • Source: Item in Screenland; issue dated for August 1935 • • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •• • Thank
you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this
past decade. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a
milestone recently when we completed 3,100 blog posts. Wow!• • By the Numbers • •• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3189th blog post.
Unlike many blogs, which draw
upon
reprinted
content
from
a
newspaper
or
a
magazine
and/
or
summaries,
links,
or
photos,
the
mainstay
of
this
blog
is
its
fresh
material
focused
on
the
life
and
career
of
Mae
West,
herself
an
American
original.•
•
Come
up
and
see
Mae
every
day
online:
http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/________Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1935 • •• • Feed — —http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWestNYC Mae West

Thursday, May 28, 2015

MAE WEST had her portrait done by many — — including James Montgomery Flagg. • • James Montgomery Flagg [18 June 1877 — 27 May 1960] • •

• • American artist James Montgomery Flagg asked Mae West to sit for a portrait.• • The current owner is the Museum of the City of New York; it's part of their Theatre Collection.• • In the month of May, we celebrate Mr. Flagg, who loved to sketch the stars of stage, screen, and comedy; performers who were members of The Lambs Club; variety artists and singers, and who always did such a wonderful job of it. • • Flagg, who was famous for his Uncle Sam poster, died in New York City on Friday, 27 May 1960. He was 82.• • Mae's illustration by J.M. Flagg• • On Monday, 28 May 1934 • •• • The Australian audience embraced "the new star" in their midst when their movie-houses showed "She Done Him Wrong" down under. But their local critics did not have the same reaction to "I'm No Angel."• • On Monday, 28 May 1934, a lengthy article in The Argus emphasized that the second comedy "shows Mae West as a type rather than an actress." The Argus found other faults but we'll only mention their viewpoint on this: "In her first film she had a good story and the support of a brilliant cast. In 'I'm No Angel' she has an ordinary story and a commonplace cast. Her own part is much the same as it was in 'She Done Him Wrong,' but the setting is very different. . . ." [Source: page 5 of The Argus; 28 May 1934.]• • Nevertheless, the film did good box office and Mae's stock rose even higher in Tinseltown after two successes in the States, What is your opinion? Which Mae West film is your personal favorite? • • On Tuesday, 28 May 1935 • •• • The Straits Times in Singapore carried this headline: "Mae West Marriage Claim — — Come Up and See My Lawyer Some Time." Uh-oh. Trouble brewing. • • Overheard in Hollywood • •• • Now Shirley Temple is a candidate for the Mae West treatment. • • In Her Own Words • •• • Mae West said: "If you select your characters and the atmosphere in which they live with sufficient care, you don't have to use much imagination to make them colourful or their story interesting. In newspaper language, you don't write them up. Instead you write them down."• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • An art gallery's exhibition materials mentioned Mae West.• • "Mary Beth Edelson, Feminist Humor as Political Device at Princeton University" — — displayed from March 28th — May 7th, 2015• • Artist: Mary Beth Edelson — — Drawing: Mae West — There is Never Only One Game in Town, 1997, mixed media on jute tag, 12" x10"• • Source: Accola Griefen Gallery, NYC; posted in March 2015• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •• • Thank
you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this
past decade. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a
milestone recently when we completed 3,100 blog posts. Wow!• • By the Numbers • •• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3188th blog post.
Unlike many blogs, which draw
upon
reprinted
content
from
a
newspaper
or
a
magazine
and/
or
summaries,
links,
or
photos,
the
mainstay
of
this
blog
is
its
fresh
material
focused
on
the
life
and
career
of
Mae
West,
herself
an
American
original.•
•
Come
up
and
see
Mae
every
day
online:
http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/________Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West• • Photo: • • Mae West • • by artists • •• • Feed — —http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWestNYC Mae West

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

It was on Wednesday, 27 May 1936 that the citizens of Australia learned that MAE WEST had offended the censor.• • "Screen Notes: By Preview" • •• • "Miss West Offends the Australian Censor: Brush with Officialdom" • •• • Preview wrote: So Mae West has at last shocked the Australian film censor. When he was shown a print of her latest picture, "Klondike Annie" (it is called "Klondike Lou" in the United States [sic]), he disapproved so strongly of her behaviour that he refused permission for the film to be shown in any State in Australia. • • This is the picture in which Miss West plays the part of a murderess who escapes to Alaska, changes clothes with a Salvation Army girl who has died, and conducts an uplift campaign among the men of Nome. The situations in which the inimitable Miss West appeared and the things that the inimitable Miss West said not only offended Mr. Cresswell O'Reilly, they astounded the Federal appeal censor (Brlgadler-Geneial J. O. MacKay), to whose judgment Mr. O'Reilly's decision was referred by the digruntled distributor Brigadier-General. . . .• • Source: The Argus (Melbourne); published on Wednesday, 27 May 1936.• • On Monday, 27 May 1935 • •• • It was on Monday, 27 May 1935 — — and Mae West fans were lining up to see the screen queen in "Goin' to Town" opening its exclusive engagement at the Capitol Theatre in Ontario, Canada.• • That week in Ontario, these feature films were onscreen as well: "The Bride of Frankenstein" starring Boris Karloff and "Loves of a Dictator" starring Olive Brook (at the Tivoli).• • On Friday, 27 May 2005 • •• • Talented artist Tom Tierney released his wonderful "Mae West Paper Doll" book on Friday, 27 May 2005. Dover published this book and Tommy did such a fabulous job. This is an essential item for your Mae West bookshelf.• • Overheard in Hollywood • •• • Mae West has no patience for night spots or other convivial gathering places where people get even slightly tight. • • In Her Own Words • •• • Mae West said: "I'll stick to the movie game for some time. But I hope to be able to find time to do another play."• • Quote, Unquote • •• • Screenland mentioned Mae West.• • "Help Yourself to a Hollywood Figure with James Davies' advice" • •

• • James Davies wrote: No, I don't mean that you should watch Mae West or imitate her mode of locomotion. Mae West has made her walk a trademark. It is unique and it is so very amusing when she uses it, but if anyone else did it, it would be ridiculous. . . .• • Source: Article in Screenland; issue dated for June 1935• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •• • Thank
you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this
past decade. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a
milestone recently when we completed 3,100 blog posts. Wow!• • By the Numbers • •• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3187th blog post.
Unlike many blogs, which draw
upon
reprinted
content
from
a
newspaper
or
a
magazine
and/
or
summaries,
links,
or
photos,
the
mainstay
of
this
blog
is
its
fresh
material
focused
on
the
life
and
career
of
Mae
West,
herself
an
American
original.•
•
Come
up
and
see
Mae
every
day
online:
http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/________Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlMae West• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1935 • •• • Feed — —http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWestNYC Mae West